Friday, June 10, 2016

1:57 PM

A split GAB voted to keep longtime Dem Rep. Leon Young on the ballot this fall, even as members expressed concerns that signatures he turned in above the maximum helped keep him above the minimum.

Young, D-Milwaukee, originally turned in 436 signatures, above the maximum allowed of 400. The initial staff review found 413 to be valid and certified 400 signatures. Young also filed 36 supplemental signatures that could be considered if needed.

Public defender Edgar Lin, who is running against Young in the primary, challenged his nomination papers on several grounds. That includes that anything Young turned in above 400 signatures should have been struck immediately.

After reviewing the complaint, the agency found about half of Young’s signatures should be thrown out. If the signatures above 400 had been rejected at the outset, it would have left Young short of the number needed to qualify.

Young acknowledged he did a poor job of screening his nomination papers for signatures from outside the district. But he didn’t believe he should be penalized for going above the maximum signatures allowed.

“It sounds like my challenger wants to punish me for going above and beyond what was needed, and that’s wrong,” he said.

But Judge John Franke likened it to an athlete on steroids. State law sets a maximum of 400 signatures that can be turned in, Franke noted, and should be followed, even if agency practice has been to accept more signatures than the limit.

“To me, the statute says what it says, and we ought to be enforcing it,” Franke said.

The board voted 4-2 to keep Young on the ballot, and Judge Gerald Nichol said while it would be unfair to punish Young now for following past practice, the issue should be taken up by the new Elections Commission.